The String of Pearls
By Thomas Preskett Prest
Before Fleet-street had reached its present importance, and when George the Third was young, and the two figures who used to strike the chimes at old St Dunstan’s church were in all their glory—being a significant impediment to errand-boys on their progress, and a matter of gaping curiosity to country people—there stood close to the sacred edifice a small barber’s shop, which a man of the name of Sweeney Todd kept)
We are at a loss to conceive how he came by the name of Sweeney, a Christian appellation, but such was his name, as might be seen in extremely corpulent yellow letters over his shop window by anyone who chose to look for it.
Barbers by that time in Fleet-street had not become fashionable and no more dreamt of calling themselves artists than of taking the Tower by storm; moreover, they were not, as they are now, constantly slaughtering fine fat bears, and yet somehow people had hair on their heads just the same as they have at present, without the aid of that unctuous auxiliary. Moreover, Sweeney Todd, in joint with his brethren in those primitive sorts of times, did not think it necessary to have any waxen effigies of humanity in his window. No languishing young lady was looking over the left shoulder so that a profusion of red tresses might repose upon her lily neck. Great conquerors and great statesmen were not then, as they are now, held up to public ridicule with dabs of rouge upon their cheeks, a quantity of gunpowder scattered in for a beard, and some bristles sticking on end for eyebrows.
No. Sweeney Todd was a barber of the old school, and he never thought of glorifying himself on account of any extraneous circumstance. If he had lived in Henry the Eighth’s palace, it would have been all the same to him as Henry the Eighth’s dog kennel, and he would scarcely have believed human nature to be so green as to pay an extra sixpence to be shaven and shorn in any particular locality.
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Thomas Preskett Prest
Thomas Peckett (or Preskett) Prest (probable dates 1810–1859) was a British hack writer, journalist, and musician.
Biography.
He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls and was known as a skilled author in the horror genre. He is now remembered as the co-creator (with James Malcolm Rymer) of the fictional Sweeney Todd, the ‘demon barber’ immortalized in his The String of Pearls, and the co-author with Rymer of Varney the Vampire. He wrote under pseudonyms, including Bos, a takeoff of Charles Dickens’ pen name, Boz. He also was noted to have a style similar to Dickens. Before joining Edward Lloyd’s publishing factory, Prest had made a name for himself as a talented musician.
Style
Prest was noted to follow a similar style to Dickens, often outright imitating his work as he did with Oliver Twiss. His work was also noticed to not have as strong a narrative or continuity throughout its story, with a bit of description and lots of action to ensure people would keep returning week after week and not grow bored. He also was noted to avoid the social commentary that Dickens often had as an important element of his work. It is possible he also borrowed ideas from French folklore, as the character Sweeney Todd was noted to bear similarities with a popular French folktale when it was published.
Authorship question
Unfortunately, Lloyd’s business practices did not allow authors to put their names on their published work, so there is disagreement over the authorship of many works published by his company. In particular, the authors of Varney the Vampire and The String of Pearls are much debated. E.F. Bleiler has argued that Rymer is most likely the author of Varney due to the differences in how he wrote dialogue compared to Prest, as did Louis James, the latter citing a piece of the manuscript in Rymer’s handwriting.
The String of Pearls is usually attributed to Prest or James Malcolm Rymer. However, other contenders such as George Mcfarren or Edward Lloyd have been suggested. The first claim of Prest being the author came in 1894, followed by a 1901 response claiming that Rymer was the true author. Although historically attributed to Prest, recently, arguments have been made that Rymer should be considered the true author of The String of Pearls. It is commonly noted that these works were co-produced, so they are usually regarded as co-authors of the piece.
Thomas Preskett Prest
